Watch: Seven minigames that (nearly) eclipsed the main game

Minigames are interesting things. They're purpose built to distract the player - to give them something different to do for ten minutes in order to break up the flow of the main game. In a sense, they're tacit admissions of the fact that sometimes games - especially long ones - can get a bit monotonous.

These minigames in themselves can of course be tedious in their own right, but sometimes developers get it so right that their minigames threaten to outshine the main game itself. With that in mind, Ian and I put together a list of seven minigames that very nearly eclipsed the main event. You will not be surprised to hear that Gwent is one such example.

Johnny is one quarter of the Eurogamer video team - specifically the part that looks like it comes from East London. He loves pen and paper role playing games, his dog Watson, and pretty much any video game with a bit of grimdark to it. You are almost certainly pronouncing his surname incorrectly.